Coronavirus has put the world out of balance - out of homeostasis. It is causing us to make adjustments, a little bit more of this or a little bit less of that. In the midst of this pandemic situation, we are doing what it takes to find our way back to stability, back to normalcy.
And……………………...What does this have to do with writing? Two things:
Thing 1: Three-Sentence Narratives Focused on the Positive - But What about the Negative?
A few weeks ago, I got some valuable feedback about the three-sentence narrative project that TUSD and the Turlock community participated in. Essentially, the comments boiled down to this: We shouldn’t have limited the COVID-19 social distancing observations only to the positive. We should have included the negative, too. Remember? Keep ‘em positive, real, and short. A few teachers (and a couple of parents) told me that there was nothing positive about this experience and that to try to look for the joy in this situation was, well, not a healthy way to write about this experience. And I agree - except to the extent that I disagree.
We need to write down the things that bring us joy in the midst of challenging times so that they do not get lost in short-term memory, but we need to write down the sadness, too. Like yin and yang, like darkness and light, we need both if we are to find balance. Writing is about finding authenticity and telling a truth about it. Journaling about what makes us sad is authentic - but for this writer, it’s more for private consumption than public.
Our mental health clinicians, counselors, psychology teachers, or others who are experts in the field of emotions understand the concept of homeostasis and making adjustments to find stability better than I do, so I’ll just mention three pieces of text that helped me explain journaling about authentic emotions to my students.
One is a Pixar movie called
Inside Out
that explains how
Joy
,
Sadness
,
Fear
,
Disgust
, and
Anger
live inside of an 11-year-old who has to make adjustments to find her balance while in the midst of transition and crisis. The other is a
TEDTalk
and book by Psychologist Susan David,
Emotional Agility,
where she argues that we need to allow our emotions to signal what matters to us so that we can adapt, change, and live resilient lives. The last text is Maurice Sendak’s
Where the Wild Things Are
. I love this book because it reminds me to do what the main character, Max, did: look monsters (stressors) in their terrible yellow eyes and make adjustments so that I become better at coping and balancing during the tough times.
And………………………………..What does this have to do with writing? Judiciousness is key.
Writing makes us vulnerable. Writing about the so-called negative emotions forces us to release it from being bottled up inside - then sit with it on the page. I am not smart enough to know what writing about so-called negative emotions does to or for a person, but I am smart enough to know that not all writing should be public writing. Journaling about a slice of joy and going public is a far cry from journaling about a slice of sadness and staying private.
Thing 2: Sentences, too, need balance. It helps us feel the rhythm.
Here are some classic examples from Julius Caesar and John Kennedy respectively: “I came. I saw. I conquered”...and “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” The rhythm of these sentences are pleasing to the ear. Balanced or parallel sentences sound good; imbalanced or unparalleled sentences sound bad.
How do we write balanced sentences? Lots of ways, but here are a couple of easy ways.
1. Pay attention to the coordinating conjunctions - those FANBOYS. Pay attention to what’s on each side of them.
a. EX: I like
to walk
early in the morning
but
like
to run
late in the evening. vs.
b. I like to walk early in the morning and running later in the evening.
2. Pay attention to the correlative conjunctions - either or, neither nor, not only, but also
a.
EX: I not only walked early in the morning but also
ran
later in the evening. vs.
b.
I not only
walked
early in the morning but also
went running
later that evening.
Write balanced sentences. Write about negative experiences in addition to positive ones. Write for public audiences. Write for your eyes only. Write to feel. Write to know. Write to see. Write during Coronavirus. Write so that you find the balance and homeostasis that you need to steady yourself in this unsteady time.
